A7 Swift Sanctions Evasion Scheme Moves $6.9 Billion Through Global Banks

A7 Swift sanctions evasion scheme moved $6.9 billion through global banks.

The investigation, led by the Financial Times, revealed how A7, a Kremlin-linked fintech company, exploited a structural weak point in how Swift verifies transactions to funnel billions of dollars through international banking systems despite years of sanctions on Russia.

A7 built its business as an alternative to Swift for cross-border payments, marketed by the Kremlin as a new payment structure and crypto payment option. However, it relied on front companies and an industrial-scale forgery operation producing counterfeit invoices to disguise payments.

The scheme involved A7 setting up front companies in third countries, funneling laundered cash into their bank accounts, and then using those accounts to settle payments on behalf of Russian clients dealing with counterparties elsewhere, including in China. Standard Chartered Hong Kong alone received $1.1 billion from A7-linked entities between late 2024 and August 2025.

The investigation implicated multiple global banks, including Standard Chartered, Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Deutsche Bank, which unknowingly processed money tied to A7-linked entities over roughly a year. First Abu Dhabi Bank hosted accounts for 17 A7 entities that sent out more than $1.8 billion before the bank shut them down.